My Heart Is In Iraq
by NoBoundaries
Summary: Brooke has been transferred to an all-girls school in Tree Hill, she meets Justine Scott and quickly learns that she has a brother in the Iraqi war. What happens when Lucas and Brooke's two worlds collide? Brucas. Rated M just in case for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**My heart is in Iraq.**

**Right, so this is my first fanfic...ever...So, if it's horrible don't be harsh, please and thank you. Also, if I get positive feedback then there will be more than this chapter so no it doesn't necessarily end how it ends in this chapter and yes it **_**IS**_** a Brucas fanfic.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own OTH or any of the characters in it I only kinda own Justine Scott and the storyline.**

_Brooke's POV:_

Three weeks. It's been three weeks since I transferred schools. I was the bad girl at my other school and on the week my parents decided to care they sent me to an all-girls school. It was more difficult to be the most popular girl in school when there were no guys to please and just girls to compete with, however, I did meet this really cool person; her name is Justine Scott. Apparently, she has a brother in the army, her mom is a postal worker, and her dad died when she was young. I found this all intriguing and figured I'd give this girl a shot, if this friendship fails at least there is her brother to possibly hook up with.

"Brooke!" Justine called out to me as I was walking to my next class, knocking me out of my thoughts "Want to come over after school?"

At first I was going to say no, just because I find her cool here doesn't mean I want to hang out with her after school, same concept with flirting, I may flirt but it doesn't mean I'm interested. Clearly she picked up on my contemplating since now she's trying to get my attention with a slightly disappointed facial expression.

"Sure" I say, after all maybe I'll get to see a picture of her brother while I'm there. Test the waters; see if this is all worth it.

"Great, I'll meet you by your car" She calls out just as the bell rings. I hurry to my next class and make it just in time, which I'm thankful for, if this is what I get for sleeping around some who knows what I'll get for being late to a class, God forbid I get in trouble here. I stare up at the clock and huff at the thought of being here for 5 more hours, this is torture and I'm not sure how any of these girls can bare it. Can you believe some of them actually chose to be here!? I'll never understand their motives with that, I guess the education is good here but that's not intriguing to me, at all. Well, whatever floats their boat I guess?

---

I sigh with relief as I put my books back in my locker; I've made it through another grueling day and the teachers were nice enough to not give us any homework for this weekend. My mood changes from relieved to irritated as I see Justine standing by my car and I remember saying I'd go to her house after school. Don't get me wrong, she's an okay girl, really, but I could be doing a lot more interesting things on a Friday, since I have the house to myself, catching my drift?

We get into the car and we start to her house. There is a long awkward silence before I say "So, tell me about your brother"

I see her eyes brighten up and sadden at the same time, I can't explain it but I conclude that it's a sensitive subject and I remind her that she doesn't have to talk about him if she doesn't want to.

She just smiles; "It's ok, I love when people ask about him; I get to share how amazing he is. I guess I'll start simple, his name is Lucas and he's 20, he joined the army once he graduated and has been sent over to Iraq twice now."

"Oh, I'm sorry, that must be hard for you" I state, surprisingly, I'm not one for niceness and this was a bit shocking to say the least.

"Yeah, it's hard, but I know he'll be okay. He has to be. He promised once he got back we'd all pack up and he'd take us to Florida." She said; quite smiley I must add, she must really love her brother.

"That's awesome! Tell me more about him." I say curiously.

"Oh right, he loves kids and animals. He played basketball in high school. He loves music and writing. He adores anyone that can understand his dorky sometimes broody personality." She says.

"Oh here it is, just pull up into the drive-way" Justine says as we get to her house.

"He sounds amazing" I say as I pull into her drive-way. "I'd love to meet him sometime"

"He is always into meeting new people, I'm sure he'd love to meet you as well"

I know what you're thinking, why didn't you want to give this girl a chance at first? I was just thinking the same thing.

---

"Ha-ha, that's hilarious!" Justine says in-between laughs.

"I know! How could the lady not know that it really wasn't cocaine! Obviously salt has a different look." I say also in-between laughs.

"Who knows, so tell me a little more about you, Brooke" Justine says while taking another drink of her water.

This was what I was dreading, that question. I'm not the most interesting person in the world and we're just getting close. I don't want to tell her about my past and taint her image of me. I'm almost positive that'd happen as soon as the words left my mouth. Maybe I'm not giving her enough credit, maybe her opinion about me won't change at all.

"Brooke?" Justine calls as she sees me zoning out again. "You do that a lot"

"Do what a lot?" Stating as if I didn't know what she was talking about.

"Zone out, you zone out a lot"

"I know, I'm sorry, it only happens when I'm thinking" I tell her, hoping she can't tell I'm thinking up a lie to tell her.

"Oh, ok. So tell me more about you then." She says with a smile.

Phew, she couldn't tell. "Well, in my last school I was an A-B student and I was more of the good girl that did all her homework instead of partying. You know that kind of thing."

"You aren't being truthful, are you?" She states with a laugh "Seriously, I don't judge"

I laugh "It was that obvious?"

"Just a smidge" she says with another laugh.

"I was head cheerleader and a C-D student. Pretty much the bad girl, party after party, boy after boy. It was pretty bad. My parents were always away on business or elsewhere doing God knows what and on the week they decided to care they sent me here, I wasn't too happy about it because that was my life, all my friends were there and I hated the thought of starting over from scratch. Now, here I am and I met you and now I'm thinking this won't be so bad." I started hoping she wasn't going to judge me off of that even though she said she wouldn't.

Justine just smiled and said that it was okay and that she totally understands why I wouldn't want to tell her. Just as I was about to continue the phone rang.

"Can you grab that?" Justine said as she walked over to her bed

"Are you sure?" I said with a questionable look on my face

"Yea, just ask who they'd like to speak to"

"Hello, who would you like to speak to?" I said after pushing the talk button.

"Justine, please" The person on the other end responded.

I handed the phone over to Justine and told her that it was a guy asking for her, then a picture sitting on her night stand caught my attention and I turned to her;

"Who is this?" I said while pointing at the picture.

Justine turned to look at me and said "Oh, that's my brother, Lucas"

"Who was that?" I heard the person on the other end say.

Justine turned her attention back to the phone call "Lucas that was Brooke."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own OTH or any of the characters in it I only kinda own Justine Scott and the storyline.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**---**

Going over to Justine's has become a more frequent thing.

We'd talk for hours about unimportant things, like what would it be like to be someone else for a day? How would you react if you found out a celeb lived a couple blocks away from you? More recently I talked her into trying out for the cheerleading squad, it took a lot of persuading, but I finally got her to give in. No matter what though, no matter what the topic is, I always find myself looking up at his picture and thinking to myself 'I wonder what he's like in person' 'will he be any different once he gets back from the war' 'will he make it back from the war' stuff I really shouldn't be worried about since Justine only told me a few things about him.

"Looking at him again?" Justine asked while following my gaze

I look at her like she's crazy until I realize what she's talking about "Oh yea, sorry…you were saying?"

"Ha-ha, want to see more pictures of him?"

"Yes, yes, yes" I squealed excitedly.

I'm not sure what is going on but whenever I think about him I get giddy and excited, I think I'm majorly crushed out on this boy and I've never even met him yet! Justine just pulled out the picture album and I was getting impatient so I playfully grabbed it from her and we shared a laugh before I opened it up and began to flip through it.

"That's him on his first trip to Iraq" She said as she was pointing to a picture.

"He seems so happy in that picture, how can anyone be so happy while being over there?" I asked in amazement.

She laughed "They get breaks, Brooke. Where they get to hang out with friends and do what they want, it's not getting shot at 24/7, how do you think he has time to call me?"

"Oh, I never thought of that, in the movies it seems like there is some kind of battle going on all the time" I let out a sigh of relief "I wouldn't know what to do if I had to be over there in 100 degree weather getting shot at all the time so to know that it's only sometimes and they get a break is a relief to me."

"Same here" she points to another picture "Oh, here is where we went to cedar point a couple weeks before he graduated" she points to another "And here he is at his graduation party, he was so trashed, it was hilarious"

I couldn't help but smile at how content she seemed talking about him. If I had a family member over there I'd be worried all the time and I'm not sure I'd ever keep a smile on my face.

"Does he have a girlfriend?" I ask while flipping through some more pages.

I heard a voice say "no, I don't"

To be quite honest it scared the fuck out of me and I had no idea where it was coming from until I noticed that J had grabbed her laptop and had a video chat up, with none other than Lucas Scott, the guy I've been having fantasies about the past couple of nights. The background in the cam looked like desert with a blazing hot sun and hummers out the ying yang and he was wearing his army hat with a tan shirt and I'm guessing camo pants along with G.I. Joe type boots or something.

"Hey, I'm Brooke, the one you talked to for like a split second last week on the phone" I say, a little more cheery than I expected.

"I'm Lucas, the one you also talked to for a split second last week on the phone" He says with a smirk.

"Justine has told me some about you. How is it over there?"

"Oh no, all good things I'm hoping." He starts before Justine cuts in

"Of course good things...maybe"

"Better be good things or you're so in for it when I get home, anyway, it's okay over here, trying to avoid getting shot. Everyday kind of thing, story of my life; How are things on your end?" he says with sadness clouding his eyes.

I'm surprised that I've picked up on all these small things he does. He has a smirk-like-smile, sadness clouds the happiness in his eyes when talking about what it's like over there, he's constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure he doesn't have to get his gun ready just to survive, he squints when he's thinking, his eyes are a different shade of blue depending on his mood, and the list goes on.

Since it's the weekend we just decided I could stay at Justine's instead of going home and then we could hang out the next day since that'd be the plan anyway, good thing we decided this though since I've been talking to Lucas for like 3 hours now. J crashed out on me earlier and I had nothing to do so I just continued to talk to Lucas.

We talked about how hard it was for him to help his mom out after his dad died. We talked about what he expects from life and his views on relationships. He told me stories about he was younger. He asked how my senior year was going and what I wanted to do with my life after high school.

I've never had such a serious conversation with a guy without it being awkward or without me getting bored of him and telling him he just needs to go but yet with Lucas it seemed so comfortable and I didn't have to impress him and I didn't have to be anyone but myself. It made me learn about myself if we get technical. It taught me that not all guys are the same and I don't have to sleep with them to get their attention. Although I do admit that I tried to use my sex appeal against him right after Justine fell asleep, I'm physically attracted to him, could you blame me? I mean really?

"I have to get off of here" he said "But I want to talk to you again, soon"

I smiled a lazy smile and said "I want to talk to you again too, night"

"Night" he said right before logging off

I laid down in bed and curled up in the covers but falling asleep with a huge smile on my face.

[i]It's going to be a good year. [/i]


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own OTH or any of the characters in it I only kinda own Justine Scott and the storyline.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**----**

_Lucas's POV: A week before meeting Brooke._

"My name is Lucas Scott and I'm your group leader. Welcome"

That's what I said to the new people that joined my party. Welcome, my ass, saying welcome is like saying that everything is okay and that they're going to be fine and they'll have fun while being here, which obviously isn't the case. This is complete torture, you have to constantly be aware of your surroundings and you can't trust anyone but your own.

I went over and sat down near a rock with the blazing sun beating down on me and sweat slowly inching its way down my back. I've been here for 10 months and regardless of the torture I'm not sure I want to go home, last time I was there I felt like a stranger in my own house like I didn't belong there anymore and I was destined for something bigger than Tree Hill. No one understands the new me and how much I've changed because all they want to see is what I used to be, who I used to be. They don't want to hear that I had to watch friends die, I had to dodge bullets during every ambush, I had to go into every supply trip knowing that I could possibly die this time, I had to make sure I wasn't afraid of the fact that there could possibly be a bomb hidden in the ground and just as I get near it, it'll possibly blow up, they don't want to hear that I had to kill people that were sometimes innocent because I couldn't trust them and I had to go with its either them or me. They just want me to come home and have everything be okay and I can't do that for them, I just want someone that doesn't know the old me, someone I can talk to about these things, someone who could possibly just understand at least a little bit.

"Ambush, Ambush!" I hear someone call out and I get dressed in my combat uniform as quickly as possible before grabbing my gun and getting into position.

I knew what I was getting into when I joined the army but the real question is why did I join? I joined because I wanted to be a hero; I wanted to get away from the stress of raising my little sister and taking care of my mom since my dad died. I just wanted to make my dad proud because this is what we've always talked about and I feel that this is what he'd want from me, protecting this great country that I live in, making sure that everyone else is free because that's what they deserve.

My family would be devastated if they knew that I wanted to stay here and continue to protect the US of A, to fight alongside the troops that have so much courage that you could never break them, I want to be the hero that I was destined to be and that is my plan unless something proves to be worthy enough of me staying at home this time.

"Move in!" I hear one of the soldiers shout, knocking me out of my thoughts and I move in towards another rock to hide behind.

I hear bullets being shot left and right a few of them coming right above me and I hear a slight silence indicating that they're reloading so I get up and aim, shooting and killing three of the men that weren't smart enough to dunk down before reloading, two more come up and I shoot them as well before I move in closer to see if it's safe for the rest of them to move in. I inform the rest of them that the Iraqis have began to retreat and that the ambush was over.

"Good job, men" I state as I look around to see that all of my men have survived the ambush and that no one got injured in the process. All had survived and I couldn't have been happier to see all of them looking at me waiting for their next orders.

"Go relax and get some water, keep as much equipment on as possible just in case we have to fight back again" I say and watch as their faces relax again

I head over to the hummer and sit inside before grabbing my pen and paper to continue on my story I had started even before leaving home. Writing had become my second priority since I joined the army, before I used to write every night and now I only write when I'm not getting shot at. Which isn't very often to tell you the truth, I tell my sister that the breaks are long enough that I can get enough sleep and I can hang out with friends but in reality they're just long enough to share a few jokes before having to get back on the job. If I go back I think I'm going to pursue my writing and focus on that and that only but we'll just have to see.

I just met Justine's friend, Brooke. I'm really happy that my sister is making friends and it's a plus that her friend is hot, I haven't seen a girl, other than the ones that work with us here, for over 10 months and to see someone as beautiful as her was a turn on to say the least. I tried to keep my composure though. I didn't want to scare her away by being too forward so I just decided to talk to her and get to know her some before flirting too much.

"Hey, I'm Brooke, the one you talked to for like a split second last week on the phone" She said with her slightly raspy voice that I found extremely sexy.

"I'm Lucas, the one you also talked to for a split second last week on the phone" I said mockingly with my most famous of smirks.

"Justine has told me some about you. How is it over there?" I knew she'd ask but I really was hoping that she wouldn't, I'd like to talk to one person without thinking about the war but it happens every time and I always know it's coming so I prepare my answer, I usually say that everything is fine but I feel a sense of ease with her so 'it's okay over here, trying to avoid getting shot. Everyday kind of thing, story of my life' leaves my mouth before I even have time to think about it, to avoid any questions I ask her how things are on her end as well and she answers with an 'everything is fine' and doesn't even stop for questions.

It seemed like I talked to her for hours before I realized that Justine had crashed out not that far away from the computer. At least she knows I'm ok, maybe she'll sleep soundly. I turned my attention back to Brooke and she had this flirty look in her eyes and had me going insane, I wanted her and she wasn't making this easy for me so I just try to move onto something more serious to demolish that topic.

"How is your senior year going so far?" I ask

"It's going okay; I just transferred schools not too long ago so I'm still settling into this school. I miss all my friends and I miss cheerleading, plus it's really hard to fit in when there is nothing but girls so I'm very thankful that I met Justine" She answers with a slight smile this of course makes me smile as well and I realize that I like talking to her, a lot.

"Got any good stories from when you were a kid?" She asked me and I thought about a story that would impress her but I couldn't think of any so I just answered with the story that I had playing in my head.

"When I was 10 or 11 my mom got me a brand new bike and I got this paper route well I turned down this hill, a steep hill, and as I was going down the speed started the pickup and I began to panic and because of this I forgot where the brakes were so I went out into the road instead of cutting quickly to the right or the left to remain on the sidewalk and I ended up getting hit by a car. I walked away from it without a scratch but I got in major trouble with my mom, she knew the lady that hit me to so she already knew before I even got home, I got grounded for a week and I lost my bike." I tell her

"Wow, that is crazy" She says and a playful smile, I could tell she was trying to hold back a laugh

"Don't laugh it wasn't funny" I say while starting to laugh in the process.

We continued to talk about things such as how hard it was for me after my dad died and my views on life and love, etc. It eventually got late and I had to go because of the big day that I knew would follow even though I wanted to continue to talk to her. So I told her that I had to leave and that I wanted to talk to her again soon. I was surprised when she agreed but happy at the same time. I logged out and laid down with a huge smile on my face.

[i]Maybe she's the one that's worth staying home for[/i]


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, Nate here, I've got feedback from the two places I've been posting my story and I really enjoy hearing from you all. I want to get more feedback before continuing but I'm a sucker for this story and I can't wait anymore so here is the 4th chapter ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own OTH or any of the characters in it I only kinda own Justine Scott and the storyline.**

_Brooke's POV:_

_"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?  
Deny thy father and refuse thy name.  
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love  
And I'll no longer be a Capulet." __**– **_**William Shakespeare, **_**Romeo and Juliet**_**, 2.2**

Here I am sitting in class again bored out of my mind listening to this teacher ramble on and on about Romeo and Juliet; lame. It's been two months since I've transferred schools and everything that needs to be in place has fallen into place just as planned. Justine and I joined the cheerleading squad, who knew you could become popular overnight? Well technically we had to bitch out the head cheerleader and we had to prove ourselves at the party.

_Flashback:_

"_Don't you dare think now that you're on the cheerleading squad you're all high and mighty. You're STILL at the bottom of the food chain and you will get ate" the cheerleading whore said to me, as if this bitch is going to get in my face and not get a mouth full herself._

"_Ate? You eat girls? Never knew you swung on that side of the plate, Bridgette" Justine states, this actually surprised me since she is usually so quiet, I honestly figured I'd have to fight this battle alone_

"_But...what!? That is not what I meant and you know it you two timing mother fuc…" _

"_You know what, Bridgette…just shut the fuck up and take your ass back to your house, call up those male prostitutes and have them satisfy your ass before your vagina withers up and dies from2.5 second lack of action" I had to cut her off there, if Justine is going to have my back then I'm going to have her back _

_Oh this is where it gets good;_

"_Hey now leave her the fuck alone, alright? Two wrongs don't make a right in this situation" her cocky ass boyfriend says in that cocky ass attitude of his_

" _You might as well tuck your dick between your legs and follow her before I have to call your ass out too, does getting caught in the bathroom not too long ago with Tony mean anything to you?" _

_And with that they both leave and everyone in the room clapped. _

_[/flashback]_

She's lucky that's all she got, I was about to bitch slap her so hard she'd be seeing stars for a month but anyway back to the story, we of course had to prove ourselves at the party, as if the fight wasn't enough proof that we could easily run the school.

_Flashback:_

"_Truth or Dare" _

_We were playing doubles truth or dare so Justine was my partner_

"_Dare" we both say at the same time, this kid is dorky so of course his dare was going to be harmless, right? Wrong._

"_Okay, I dare you to strip completely, jump into the neighbors freezing cold pool and then do a dance in front of their open bedroom window"_

_I figured this would be no sweat since I've done this type of thing before but Justine seemed awfully nervous, regardless we did it and it definitely wasn't as cool and as fun as I thought it was going to be, turns out it was an old couple and after a lot of persuading we got them to not call the cops. _

_In the end we proved ourselves and we become pretty much the most popular girls in school._

_[/flashback]_

Sounds exciting, correct? I think so.

My birthday is coming up soon 2 more days to be exact and I couldn't be more happy, I have all my new friends to hang out with and we're having a pool party at Justine's house, I told her I wanted to keep it simple because I've done enough partying in my life and this time I just want it to be me and some of the friends hanging out maybe drinking some, having some cake, you know the kind of party everyone else in the world would pretty much consider lame for a high school senior you runs the school. It's whatever though; people can think what they want about me I really don't give a fuck.

A week ago the craziest thing happened; I was talking to Lucas, right? It's become a routine thing but anyway and we were just talking about how he gets to come home in a few days and he popped the question! Not the 'will you marry me question' but the will you be my girlfriend question it was so exciting and unbelievable and sadly it was just a dream. Had you going there for a minute though, huh? Yeah, I thought so, but really wouldn't that be the ultimate present, I mean, I like this guy a lot and without even meeting him in person he has become a big part of my life. I can't believe that the feelings have grown this fast. Here is how the dream went:

_I rush home from school and turn on my laptop hoping to see that Lucas is on, which he is, I'm not sure how he's finding all this time to talk to me but I'm really glad that he is. I quickly start a video chat and his smile quickly puts a smile on my face._

"_Hey, pretty girl" is what he said at first, it's what he always says at first but every time it makes me melt._

"_Hey" I state simply, I've been doing this whole keep it simple thing so he can talk longer, I love to hear his voice. _

"_God, I love it when you smile. How was your day?" _

"_It was alright I guess. Much better now that I'm talking to you" Cheesy, yes? Ah, well. Whatever _

"_Good to know, look pretty girl I have something I need to ask you, it's been on my mind for a while now and I can't wait any longer" He says nervously, in fact I've never seen him this nervous about anything._

"_Okay then ask me" I say curiously _

"_Will you be my girlfriend? I know it's sudden and it's not in person but I want you to be mine and I want to be yours, I want to say that you're my girlfriend when I'm talking to my friends and I want to be the one you consider your boyfriend when you're talking to your friends and I…" It came out so simple _

"_Yes, yes and yes. I'd love to be your girlfriend" _

_And that's when I woke up by my alarm clock, stupid thing, I enjoyed that dream tremendously and the damn thing had to ruin it for me. _

If I didn't need it to get up for school every morning I probably would've broke the thing. So annoying

The day is finally over and I'm heading home, thankfully I couldn't bear being in that classroom any longer, although thinking about Lucas helped pass the time.

**2 days later**

_Lucas's POV:_

I told everyone that I'd be home in a week but in reality I'm at the airport in Tree Hill, I had heard that its Brooke's birthday and I didn't want to miss it for anything. I have been planning this sort of surprise for her the past couple weeks or so that I really think she'll enjoy, I'm sure my family will be there at the party so that way they can see me as well.

"Hey man, you're home! It's about time!" Andy said to me after I had grabbed my bag

"Yeah, I'm home and hopefully I'm staying home this time" that was kind of a lie to please him, as said before I'm not sure I want to stay home and although Brooke might be the reason for me staying home you never know if things are going to go how you want them to go.

"I got that box you wanted, what did you want t for anyway?" He questioned

"Well, see I've been planning to…"

_Brooke's POV:_

'Eyeliner: Check, Lip Gloss: Check, Cell phone: Check, Good outfit: Check, Bikini: Check'

I'm running around my room making sure I got everything I need before heading over Justine's house, I've never been this excited about a birthday before, it's probably because before I spent it with a boy instead of with family members or friends so to have someone throwing a party for me, it's all very exciting.

I hope I get some good gifts, that's a little fucked up since presents aren't all a party is about, but seriously? What girl doesn't like gifts!?

After making sure I have everything I drive over to Justine's and walk past the presents and I see all of these small presents wrapped up in shiny wrapping paper and then this huge box catches my eye and I start brainstorming what it could possibly be.

Presents this year is going to be so much fun! 18th birthday is golden!

_Lucas's POV: _

I arrived an hour or so ago and I'm getting tired of waiting patiently, I hear tons of chatter outside and I can't help but wonder when they're just going to open the gifts.

I'd really like to stretch my legs some, I feel myself getting moved so I get prepared

_Brooke's POV: _

I opened all the other presents slowly since I want to see what's in the big box but at the same time I'm scared to see what's in the big box.

I got clothes, gift cards and hair stuff but none of that compares to what could possibly be in here.

Someone finally brings it over and I start to open it, just as I get to tape cut off someone pops out

"LUCAS!" I hear Justine call out as well as his mom then they quickly run over to see him after about a minute of trying to get over the shock I shout out Lucas as well and we all run over to hug him.

"Surprise!" He states proudly considering he definitely surprised me as he hugs us all back "Happy 18th birthday, pretty girl, hopefully I'm a good enough present cause if not I should probably go buy something" He says with a wink at the end.

"No, you're perfect" I say and then I hug him again

_Best Birthday Ever._


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the major delay, I've been busy and I've had writers block and absolutely no desire to write when I thought of something but anyway sorry about that I can't promise updates as often as I'd like but hopefully everyone sticks with the story, anyway here is the 5****th**** chapter, I hope you enjoy. I'll try to be more detailed in this one, usually I get lazy and I skip over details instead of including them but I've decided after reading some of the other fan fics that I better start adding that such thing.**

**But here it is:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own OTH nor do I own the characters, I only own Justine Scott and the storyline.**

**----**

_Lucas' POV:_

Brooke pulled away from the hug and I instantly miss her warmth but I figure I'll get to hug her more later.

"Can I get out of the box?" I ask then Brooke laughs and helps me over the edge; I love the sound of her laugh. I wrap my arm around her without even thinking about it and look out into the crowd that has gathered then I wave at everyone before turning back to Brooke and asking if she wants to go talk.

She shakes her head 'yes' and we head over to the hammock over near the woods away from everyone

Just as we sit down she starts to search me and I ask what she is doing, she says that she is checking for any shots and things of that nature and I just smile and let her continue her search for a second or two, her hands all over me sends waves of electricity up and down my body but I eventually stop her and tell her that I'm fine, she sighs and says okay before resting against me.

"So how has your party been?" I ask while running my fingers through her hair

"It's been a lot of fun, I've been swimming and talking to people; it's been really great for a simple party"

"That's good, I'm glad Justine has friends to have these kinds of parties with now"

"I'm glad to be that friend" Brooke said while smiling; I love how natural and easy we slip into this comfortable balance with her head resting on my shoulder while I'm running my fingers through her hair, it's like we've been on this whirlwind journey to each other for years; I lean in slightly taking in the smell of her creamy vanilla perfume just as she looks up at me with those intoxicating hazel eyes and it takes every ounce of me not to lean down to kiss her.

"So I was thinking maybe we can go to the carnival down the road sometime since I'll be home for a while plus it'll give us time to hang out"

"Sounds great, I haven't been to a carnival since I was a little kid"

"Great, so we'll go there then" I say confidently

"Brooke come on!" I hear someone call out

"Coming" Brooke gets up and starts to take her shirt and jeans off then she heads towards the pool, I watch every curve of her body as she's stripping down to her bikini and watch her slowly walk away; I have to bite my lip just to keep my jaw from dropping, she looks over her shoulder and asks if I'm going to come in or not; I calmly say no and shift in the spot I'm sitting to hide how much I'm slowly getting turned on and she just smiles that famous smile before saying ok and slipping into the pool.

I throw my head back and sigh before getting up and heading over to my sister; _it's going to be a long day_

_--_

"Do you have to go back to Iraq?" Brooke asked me as she had her head lying on my chest up in my room, after a long day relaxing is exactly what we need

"No, pretty girl"

I truthfully didn't know if I'd have to go back or not but right now I just wanted to enjoy as much time as possible with her and get to know her; maybe have a future with her although I can't expect her to wait for me so after I find out for sure that is one conversation we'll definitely have to have

"Good, I just got you; I'm not ready to lose you"

"I'm not ready to be lost, baby" _I'm not ready to be lost…_

"Tell me about past relationships" Brooke says out of nowhere

"Why?"

"I'm just curious…I want to get to know you"

"Well, it was an annoyed relationship filled with high school drama, nothing serious, really"

"No one after her?"

"Nah, I enlisted and I wasn't worried about girls anymore, but after all those years in the army…a girlfriend sounds real nice"

"Lucas and Brooke" She whispered

"What?"

"Oh, nothing I was just thinking about how good our names sound together…Brooke and Lucas, Lucas and Brooke; it has a nice ring to it"

"Indeed it does, sounds all cute and what-not"

"All cute and what-not?" Brooke said while looking up at me with a small smirk playing on her lips "Are you sure you're an army man?"

"I am very sure" I said while starting to tickle her and I eventually find myself on top of her while looking down into her eyes and a silence overtakes the room, just as I'm about to lean down to kiss her…

"LUKE!" Justine yells while walking into my room, I quickly climb off the bed

"Forget how to knock?" I say slightly aggravated

"Oh sorry, I just didn't think you'd have Brooke in your room"

"Hm, yea…So what do you want?"

"Mom wants to know if you're going to come down and have some dinner"

I sigh becoming very irritated with the situation at hand "Sure, I'll be down in a few"

"Great" Justine says as she skips out of the room in a preppy manner

"Well that was embarrassing" I say while turning my attention back to Brooke while had just climbed up to her knees on the edge of the bed, I walk over and my arms instantly find their place around her waist while her arms drape across my shoulders and she leans in close enough where I can feel her breath against my lips then she softly whispers what no guy in my situation wants to hear…

"We'll just have to wait awhile" She says right before sliding off the bed and heading downstairs, sure awhile could mean a day, a few hours, a few minutes, until dinner is over, etc…but God I can't wait any longer, I head downstairs and try to put on my best smile "greetings family"

--

**I'm really sorry that it's such a short chapter but I've been sick and busy and blah, I explained it at the top I think anyway, I hope you enjoy! I can't promise when the next will be updated, I didn't think it'd be this hard to up keep a fan fic; I was clearly wrong anyway; peace, love & sneaks**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ugh, ya'll have been amazing with sticking to the story even though I've been so uninspired but it's almost 3 in the morning and I was trying to sleep and I just couldn't because ideas for this story were bouncing around in my head so here it goes, I'm going to try to write a good chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own OTH nor do I own the characters, I only own Justine Scott and the storyline.**

_///_

_Shots echoed all around him as he was trying to find the faint voice crying for help, he could make out the voice as a young woman but it got more faint as the shots got louder…he continued on with his mission until he came to the door where the cries were coming from, she was speaking an entirely different language so he assumed it wasn't one of his soldiers, he had others following suit as he kicked open the door to find a woman crying on the floor in search of her child, this broke his heart of course but he had a job to do so he continued up the stairs to check the house and make sure this wasn't a set up…_

_He then ran to the woman has everyone else had him guarded and he attempted to understand what she was saying, after multiple tries and fails he finally followed her line of vision and laid his eyes upon a baby wrapped in cloth covered in blood, his first instinct was to get her out of there and away from the sight but he had no idea where to take her, it wasn't safe out there and he knew it but he tried his best to get her to understand that he was going to get her to safety, he had grabbed her arm and wrapped it around his neck as he lifted her and carried her to the door where he had checked to make sure no one was in plain sight, he had sent some soldiers out ahead of him just in case and then made his way to the hummer and sat her inside…_

"_I'm going to take you somewhere, ok?" All she could do was nod and cry into his arms just as they were pulling away the hummer in front of them had burst into flames after being struck with a bomb he quickly went into panic as he knew one of his best friends was in that vehicle, he put the woman under the guidance of one of his soldiers and quickly headed up to the other hummer where he seen his best friend pressed against the steering wheel with his arms dangling and he had pretty bad burns and almost unrecognizable features across his face, all he could do was grab his dog tags and remain strong…but as he was walking away everything had began to blur and he could feel himself getting lightheaded then he seen everything go black and… _

_///_

Lucas woke up in a hurry clearly startled by the previous dream, he glanced at the clock to see it was only 3 in the morning and he groaned as he laid back, he laid there for a while trying to get back to sleep but every time he closed his eyes memories of his friend just laying there helpless, lifeless haunted him

He could only think of one person to call but he really didn't want to wake her especially since she had school in merely 4 hours, he sorted through the pros and cons of calling her this early and eventually just grabbed his phone and headed towards the balcony. He flipped open his phone, pressed contacts and strolled down to her name; he hesitated slightly but surely pushed the talk button, he brought the phone to his ear and waited as it rang once, twice, three times and then a groggy Brooke picked up

"Hello"

"Hey, it's me"

She rubbed her eyes as she sat up in her bed then looked over at the clock "Lucas? It's 3 in the morning, what's wrong?"

"Yeah, sorry to wake you…it's just I had this dream where I was back in Iraq and this woman was crying for help so I went searching for her and once we got into the house I checked around to make sure it was safe and once I got to her, oh god Brooke, it was horrible…her baby was laying there on the floor in a cloth with blood all over it; I just had to get her out of there, so I did and then as we were taking off my friends hummer was blown up and I ran to him and I seen him up against the steering wheel and just…it could've been me, it should've been me"

"Don't talk like that, things happen and you can't control them but you can't blame yourself or wish it was you…I don't know what you went through and you can keep explaining it but I'll never truly know what it was like to be there but baby, I'm here for you…always, ok? Whenever you need me, we can talk and I'll try my best to understand"

"I just…can you come over? I understand if you can't" Lucas said hopeful, he knew it was a stretch but he really needed her right now

"Yea, I'll be there in a few just let me get dressed first"

"Ok, I'll be waiting"

And with that they hung up, he decided to take a shower and try to clear his head some before she came over but it didn't help so he wandered around his room until he heard his door part open

"Hey, Justine gave me a key…I figured it was best if I just came in instead of knocking"

He smiled slightly and whispered an 'its ok' before sitting down on his bed she soon followed after sitting her stuff down on the dresser

"Are you ok"

He looked at her with sleepless eyes that told her everything; they were an icy blue which usually meant he was upset and she just knew that he didn't want to talk, he just wanted to be with her so she laid down on the bed slowly pushing him back with her and they just laid there for a while hugging onto each other tightly until he spoke

"I'm really glad you came, Brooke" he said slowly

"I'd come for anything, you know that, regardless of time place or weather" she said looking up into his eyes so he knew that she was being sincere

In that moment she knew that she was falling for him, the way he looked at her so mesmerized and comfortable and she could tell he was feeling it too, just the way his eyes were sparkling in the light and the way he had a smile playing on his lips and without her being prepared he leaned down and kissed her, simply at first then once she had settled into what was happening she pulled him into a mind boggling kiss, one you read about and watch on movies but never think it could actually happen to you, it wasn't sexual it was just all of their feelings that they had kept to themselves over the past couples of weeks spread out into one earth shattering kiss.

Once they separated her lips felt cold with his not being pressed against them so she kissed him one more time before cuddling into his chest and slowly falling asleep, which he soon followed, his first official night's sleep since he had come back and one he dreadfully needed.

///

The next morning Brooke woke up to an empty bed and a note lay on the pillow beside her, she quickly grabbed it and began to read:

"_Hey pretty girl, sorry to leave out so soon, I had to get in my morning run and I figured you'd like to have something to eat…I was hoping to get back before you woke up so I could surprise you with breakfast in bed but if you're reading this then this is obviously not the case, make yourself at home and don't bother going to school today…I want to hang out, just us…plus missing one day won't hurt would it? Didn't think so, but I called your teachers just in case didn't want you to miss any tests or quizzes, yea yea I know I'm the good kid that never skipped class, blah, I'll be back in a few._

_Oh and Brooke, it's good to have you smiling, think I need to be there to know when you're smiling?_

_-Love, Lucas"_

She closed the letter and looked around the room, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face, no guy has ever made her this happy and no guy has ever made her stomach do this flip floppy thing whenever she was around him and no guy, NO GUY has kissed her the way that he kissed her, so much compassion and trust and want, she was going to have a good thing with this guy and she really didn't want to mess it up

"Hey beautiful" Lucas said snapping her out of her thoughts as he brought in some French toast with some coffee "Hungry?"

"Starving" she said with a smile as she got up, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into an intoxicating kiss "Mmm, yummy"

Lucas just laughed and watched as her eyes lit up "Now let's eat"

"Yes sir!"

The rest of the morning they had enjoyed each other's company and watched then complained about pointless TV shows, life was good.

///

**Thank you everyone, I'm really glad people enjoy reading my story, I really wasn't all that confident about it at first but now I'm coming to enjoy it, I'm not really into writing fluffy stuff, hence why fanfic writing should be for a girl xD but I'll try my best, bear with me and your inputs mean a lot so if I suck horribly at it please do tell me and I'll try to do better or something ;)**

**-Nate**

**Review! =)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, hello. Another update, finally. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own OTH although it'd be nice to have Brooke Davis. ;)**

_**///**_

"I just want you to understand…that I," I what Lucas thought as he lifted his pen from the paper, this had been his 9th attempt to write a letter to Brooke and he had no idea what to say, she went to visit with some family on the west coast and he missed her, he could say that in his mind over and over again, hell he could say a lot of things in his head that he couldn't put on paper, like "I love you, Brooke"

Wait, what? He loved her? Sure the past month has been amazing but did he actually love her? She was the girl that understood when everyone else didn't, the girl that stood beside him when his friends turned their back on him

_Flashback:_

"_Hey guys" Lucas said as he walked into the café, it had been a long draining day and all he wanted to do was hang out with his friends_

"_Hey" Andy said as he got up and walked over to his long time friend to participate in their ridiculous handshake "Sit down" the rest of the guys slide around the booth to make room for them as they slid into the seat_

"_How you been?" Jake asked once he had been seated and took his order _

"_I've been alright for the most part, just glad to be back…there is this girl though, her name is Brooke" Lucas said with a slight smile playing on his lips; Jake looked over at Andy then over at Tommy before saying "Well damn, give us the details…is she hot?"_

"_She's gorgeous…she, uh" Lucas started before getting cut off_

"_Why'd you do it…?" one of his friends from pre-k stated, rudely cutting into the conversation with a confusing question_

"_Why did I do what?" Lucas asked, confusion etched into his features as he looked around the table_

"_Don't play stupid, why'd you join the army!? When we were younger we always said that people that went in there were stupid because they were just asking to get killed in the war, you said you'd never leave us behind for something so retarded" his friend finally looked up, anger building as he continued "you fucking promised, Luke…you promised you wouldn't leave us here"_

"_Come on, man. You're overreacting" Lucas said as he looked around that the crowds of glances were expanding "calm down" _

"_NO! you promised and then you broke it, life here was hell for me after you left, you knew what it was like for me before you came into my life, I was treated like dirt and you know just when I think death would be so much better you come in like the hero and save me from myself and after that we were the best of friends, remember?" a small smile appeared before it was once again replaced with anger "and then you left for something you said you never would and I was left with nothing, nothing" _

_Lucas didn't know what to say, he didn't know it was ever that bad for his friend and at the time he didn't really care, he just wanted to follow his dream and that was the army, he always wanted secretly to be the person that everyone looked up to and praised when he walked into a room because he was doing something great for their freedom because he was putting himself on the line for their freedom so all he could mutter was "I'm sorry"_

"_You're sorry? You know you really are pathetic, fuck you." And with that he grabbed his jacket and left the café, leaving behind his friendship that meant everything and an untouched coffee_

_Lucas looked at Jake, Andy and Tommy and they gave him a sympathetic look _

"_I'm going to go" Lucas said before laying down the money for his food and drink "Pay for that, yea?"_

"_Sure, man…but you don't got to go, he's just upset" Tommy said as he watched Luke put on his jacket_

"_Just…I'll talk to you later" then Lucas left and headed towards the one house that held the girl that could make all of this go away, even if it's just for one night. _

Did he love her, he didn't know. Could he love her, he was sure of it.

Lucas looked back down at the paper and frowned when he seen that he hadn't made any progress, he waded the paper into a ball and threw it into the trash can before laying down on his bed looking for some kind of inspiration, something that'd help him put his feelings on paper he tried to focus on just him and Brooke but that made him just miss her more not be able to write it, the frustration began to build and then eventually let sleep slowly overtake his senses.

There was a low knock on the door but it was loud enough to wake Lucas up, he opened one eye and looked towards the door to see it crack open slowly to reveal his mom

"Luke, are you awake" his mom said not meaning to wake him

"Yea, yea; come on in" he said while sitting up, rubbing the back of his neck before yawning

Karen came in and sat down on the bed beside him and could instantly tell that something was on his mind

"What's on your mind?"

"How'd you know something was on my mind?" Luke said looking at her in confusion

Karen just laughed softly and said "I raised you; I could tell if there was something wrong without even walking in here"

Lucas nodded "I guess that makes sense" he looked down slightly before turning back to his mom "I'm just trying to tell Brooke how I feel in a letter…I figure that it'd be easier to just tell her in a letter and then I could deal with it once he got back but that has proven to be a fail"

"Just think about a time where you couldn't picture her being more beautiful and then picture the time where you were proved wrong, the words will just flow" she said before patting him on his back and getting up, heading towards the door "good luck"

"Thanks, oh mom…what'd you need? I mean, what'd you come in here for?" Luke said as he looked back towards her

"Oh nothing hun, It's not important right now" She said before walking out the door

"Ok" He said while eyeing her suspiciously, he decided to just let it go for right now and try to think of a time that he couldn't imagine Brooke being anymore perfect and then thinking about a time where she proved him wrong

_Lucas was standing by the backdoor watching Brooke and his sister babysit the little girl next door, they had been out in the sandbox trying to build a sand castle that always seemed to fall just as they got to the top, he could see the frustration etched into his sister and Brooke's faces but they played it off by laughing along with the little girl every time it fell; just then the sun was slightly blocked by the clouds and it was shining in a way that pinpointed all of Brookes features, from the dimples in her cheeks to her beautiful grayish green eyes that always seemed to have a certain sparkle that instantly made him feel content and safe in the moment, all the way to her dark brown hair that had tints of red when the sun hit it just right, to her pale skin that happened to just fall in between perfect and…well perfect and then he looked at that smile, the smile that was reserved for him, the one he never seen her give anyone else _

_There is nothing this girl couldn't look good in but the way she wore her hair up in a messy bun and her clothes fell around her in the most intoxicating way, if he didn't know any better he'd probably be picking his jaw off the ground and then she looked at him and the way she looked at him made his heart melt _

"_Come play with us, Luke" she said in that raspy voice and he couldn't ever say no so he walked over and sat as close to her as possible, not close enough for his liking but he just looked at her and gave her the smile that he reserved for her and everything in that moment around them just blurred and he kissed her, simply and softly but a kiss to confirm that if she wanted him then he was hers. _

Lucas smiled at the memory, he never thought someone could anymore perfect than he had seen her in that moment, he often felt like she was too good to be true and that this was all a dream but then he'd just kiss her again and she'd kiss him back then when he pulled away she'd give him that smile and he was slapped right back into the beautiful reality that was Brooke Davis.

That was the day he thought she couldn't get anymore gorgeous but the night that he took her out to eat at a fancy restaurant he was proved wrong

_He had asked her out earlier that day and told her to wear something nice because he was taking her someone fancy because she deserved to be treated like royalty, she just laughed at him and told him that he was silly but he gave her the most serious glare and she said ok_

_Later that night he had slipped on a jacket to go over his dress shirt, he didn't want to over dress so he remained in a mix of casual and fancy with some cargo pants with a white button up and a jacket then he got into his car and headed over to her house when he knocked on the door he was slightly nervous, he's never been nervous with a girl but there was something about her and when she opened the door he was sure that his heart had stopped, she was wearing a lengthy red dress with her hair in a way that made the outfit look so much more amazing_

_She looked at him and frowned "Am I overdressed?" she asked getting slightly self conscious under his gaze _

"_N…" Lucas tried but was at a loss of words, he tried again "No, no…you look amazing, so gorgeous" He looked her up and down and she couldn't be any more beautiful, especially with that genuine smile_

_He held out his hand for hers and waited for her to close the door before she took it and then he led her to the car, he then opened the door for her and they were off to the restaurant._

That's it Lucas thought as he got up and grabbed another piece of paper, he was going to tell her exactly how he felt, once he started writing he couldn't stop…it was like he could never run out of things to say the only time he stopped was to read over everything he had wrote finally coming to a stop at the end he wrote "With Love, Lucas"

He re-read it one last time before putting it into an envelope and writing the needed information then posting a stamp on it, he walked out and put it into the mail box.

…Now hopefully she feels the same, Lucas thought as he walked in.

_And in that moment, everything he had been through…in the war and with his family and his feelings about actually coming home and been put to rest, it'd still be a long journey but he knew as long as he had her, nothing could be that bad._

_**///**_

**So what cha think? I'm really proud of his chapter actually =D I really liked how it turned out, I realized my issues with other chapters was I was worried about the length more than I was focusing on the chapter so for this one I just let it flow.**

**Anyway, I know that this one was very Lucas focused but next chapter will be Brooke focused with her getting the letter, etc. **

**Wanna know what Lucas wrote next chapter? Or do you want that to remain a mystery that you can just let your mind wander with? Let me know and I'll take it into consideration J**

**REVIEW! =)**


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